Teachers: Ms. Morton; Ms. S. Smith; Ms. Godwin; Ms. Moore; Ms. Rockey; Ms. Kern

Textbook: Discovering Our Past: Ancient Civilizations (2006)

Course Description:  “In the sixth-grade curriculum, students learn about those people and events that ushered in the dawn of major Western and non-Western civilizations.”  (History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools)

Topics:

Early Humankind and the Development of Human Societies

6.1         Students describe what is known through archaeological studies of the early physical and cultural development of humankind from the Paleolithic era to the agricultural revolution.

A.         Hunter-gatherers

B.         Development of fire and the use of tools

C.         Location of human communities

D.         Human adaptations to a variety of environments

E.         Domestication of plants and animals

The Beginnings of Civilization in the Near East and Africa:  Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Kush

         6.2         Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures in the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Kush.

         A.         Major river systems

         B.         The physical settings that supported permanent settlement

         C.         Development of agricultural techniques

         D.         Emergence of cities

         E.         Relationship between religion and social and political order

         F.         Hammurabi’s Code

         G.         Egyptian art and architecture

         H.         Egyptian trade

         I.         Queen Hatshepsut and Ramses the Great

         J.         Kush

         K.         Evolution of language and its written forms

The Foundation of Western Ideas:  The Ancient Hebrews and Greeks

         6.3         Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the Ancient Hebrews.

         A.         Origins and significance of Judaism

         B.         Sources of the ethical teachings and central beliefs of Judaism

C.         Abraham, Moses, Naomi, Ruth, David, and Yohanan ben Zaccai

         D.         The Exodus

E.         Survival and development of Judaism after the destruction of the second Temple in A.D. 70

6.4         Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of Ancient Greece.

A.         Geography and the development of city-states in the region of the Aegean Sea

B.         Trade and commerce among Greek city-states

C.         Transition from tyranny and oligarchy to early democratic forms of government

D.         Athenian, or direct, democracy and representative democracy

E.         Greek mythology

F.         Persian Empire

G.         Athens and Sparta

H.         Persian War

I.         Peloponnesian War

J.         Alexander the Great

K.         Important Greek figures in the arts and sciences

West Meets East:  The Early Civilizations of India and China

6.5         Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of India.

A.         Major river systems

B.         The physical setting that supported the rise of this civilization

C.         Aryan invasions

D.         Brahmanism

E.         Hinduism

F.         Caste system

G.         Buddhism

H.         Maurya empire and emperor Asoka

I.         Aesthetic and intellectual traditions

6.6         Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of early civilizations of China.

A.         Origins of Chinese civilization during the Shang Dynasty

B.         Geographic features of China

C.         Confucius and Confucianism

D.         Daoism

E.         Emperor Shi Huangdi during the Qin Dynasty

F.         Han Dynasty

G.         Trans-Eurasian “silk roads”

H.         Buddhism in China

East Meets West:  Rome

6.7         Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures during the development of Rome.

         A.         Location of the Roman Republic

B.         Aeneas, Romulus and Remus, Cincinnatus, Julius Caesar, and Cicero

C.         Government of the Roman Republic

D.         Expansion of the Roman Empire

E.         Julius Caesar

F.         Augustus

G.         Transition from republic to empire

H.         Judaism in the Roman Empire

I.         Origins and spread of Christianity and the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth

J.         Paul the Apostle

K.         Roman art and architecture, technology and science, literature, language, and law

History and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

Chronological and Spatial Thinking

1.         Students explain how major events are related to one another in time.

2.         Students construct various time lines of key events, people, and periods of the historical era they are studying.

3.         Students use a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries and to explain the historical migration of people, expansion and disintegration of empires, and the growth of economic systems.

Research, Evidence, and Point of View

1.         Students frame questions that can be answered by historical study and research.

2.         Students distinguish fact from opinion in historical narratives and stories.

3.         Students distinguish relevant from irrelevant information, essential from incidental information, and verifiable from unverifiable information in historical narratives and stories.

4.         Students assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources and draw sound conclusions from them.

5.         Students detect the different historical points of view on historical events and determine the context in which the historical statements were made (the questions asked, sources used, author’s perspectives).

Historical Interpretation

1.         Students explain the central issues and problems from the past, placing people and events in a matrix of time and place.

2.         Students understand and distinguish cause, effect, sequence, and correlation in historical events, including the long- and short-term causal relations.

3.         Students explain the sources of historical continuity and how the combination of ideas and events explains the emergence of new patterns.

4.         Students recognize the role of chance, oversight, and error in history.

5.         Students recognize the interpretations of history are subject to change as new information is uncovered.

Fall of Rome

7.1         Students analyze the causes and effects of the vast expansion and ultimate disintegration of the Roman Empire.

A.         Strengths and lasting contributions of the Roman Empire

B.         Internal weaknesses

C.         Geography of the empire

D.         Constantine

E.         Byzantine Empire

Growth of Islam

7.2         Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of Islam in the Middle Ages.

A.         Physical features and climate of the Arabian peninsula

B.         Origins of Islam and teaching of Muhammad

C.         The Qur’an and the Sunnah

D.         Expansion of Muslim rule and cultural blending

E.         Growth of cities and trade routes

F.         Intellectual exchanges among Muslim scholars of Eurasia and Africa

G.         Contributions of Muslim scholars: science, geography, mathematics, philosophy, medicine, art, and literature.

African States in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times

7.4         Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the sub-Saharan civilizations of Ghana and Mali in Medieval Africa.

A.         Niger River, vegetation zones, and trade

B.         Growth of the Ghana and Mali empires

C.         Family, labor specialization, and regional commerce

D.         Trans-Saharan caravan trade

E.         Growth of the Arabic language in government, trade, and Islamic scholarship

F.         Written and oral traditions in the transmission of African history and culture

Civilizations of the Americas (Mayan, Aztec, and Incan cultures)

7.7         Students compare and contrast the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the Meso-American and Andean civilizations.

A.         Locations, landforms, and climates of Mexico, Central America, and South America

B.         Class structures, family life, warfare, religious beliefs and practices, and slavery in Mayan, Aztec, and Incan societies

C.         Rise and fall of the Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas

D.         Artistic and oral traditions and architecture

E.         Achievements in astronomy and mathematics

China during the Middle Ages

7.3         Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of China in the Middle Ages.

         A.         Reunification of China during the Tang Dynasty

         B.         Spread of Buddhism

C.         Agricultural, technological, and commercial developments during the Song and Tang periods

D.         Influences of Confucianism during the Song and Mongol periods

E.         Overland and maritime trade during the Mongol Ascendancy and Ming Dynasty

F.         Discoveries of tea, the manufacturing of paper, wood-block printing, the compass, and gunpowder

G.         Development of the imperial state and the scholar-official class

Japan (A.D. 592 – 632)

7.5         Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of Medieval Japan.

A.         The intellectual, linguistic, religious, and philosophical influence of China and Korea.

B.         Reign of Prince Shotoku

C.         Lord-vassal system – shogun, daimyo, and samurai

D.         Japanese Buddhism

E.         Golden age of literature, art, and drama

F.         Late 12^th-Century military society

Medieval Societies:  Europe and Japan

7.6         Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of Medieval Europe.

A.         Geography of Europe

B.         Spread of Christianity

C.         Feudalism

D.         Conflict and cooperation between the Papacy and European monarchs

E.         Medieval English legal and constitutional practices

F.         Crusades

G.         Bubonic plague

H.         Importance of the Catholic church

I.         Muslim rule in the Iberian peninsula

Europe During the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Scientific Revolution

7.8         Students analyze the origins, accomplishments, and geographic diffusion of the Renaissance.

A.         Humanism

B.         Importance of Florence

C.         Trade between Europe and China including Marco Polo

D.         Growth and effect of new ways of disseminating information

E.         Literature, art, science, mathematics, cartography, engineering, human anatomy, and astronomy

7.9         Students analyze the historical developments of the Reformation

A.         Internal turmoil and weakening of the Catholic Church

B.         Reformation: theological, political, and economic ideas

C.         Desiderius Erasmus, Martin Luther, John Calvin, William Tyndale

D.         Protestants (self-government, democratic practices, and ideas of federalism)

E.         Protestant and Catholic regions of Europe

F.         Counter Reformation

G.         Christian missionaries

H.         The Golden Age of cooperation between Jews and Muslims in medieval Spain

7.10         Students analyze the historical developments of the Scientific Revolution and its lasting effect on religious, political, and cultural institutions.

A.         Roots of the Scientific Revolution

B.         New scientific theories and inventions

C.         Scientific method

Early Modern Europe:  The Age of Exploration to the Enlightenment

7.11         Students analyze political and economic change in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries (the Age of Exploration, the Enlightenment, and the Age of Reason.)

A.         Great voyages of discovery

B.         Exchanges among Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas

C.         Economics in 17^th-Century Europe

D.         Roots of the Enlightenment

E.         Enlightenment thinkers: John Locke, Charles-Louis Montesquieu, and the American founders

F.         Magna Carta and English Bill of Rights

History and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

Chronological and Spatial Thinking

1.         Students explain how major events are related to one another in time.

2.         Students construct various time lines of key events, people, and periods of the historical era they are studying.

3.         Students use a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries and to explain the historical migration of people, expansion and disintegration of empires, and the growth of economic systems.

Research, Evidence, and Point of View

1.         Students frame questions that can be answered by historical study and research.

2.         Students distinguish fact from opinion in historical narratives and stories.

3.         Students distinguish relevant from irrelevant information, essential from incidental information, and verifiable from unverifiable information in historical narratives and stories.

4.         Students assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources and draw sound conclusions from them.

5.         Students detect the different historical points of view on historical events and determine the context in which the historical statements were made (the questions asked, sources used, author’s perspectives).

Historical Interpretation

1.         Students explain the central issues and problems from the past, placing people and events in a matrix of time and place.

2.         Students understand and distinguish cause, effect, sequence, and correlation in historical events, including the long- and short-term causal relations.

3.         Students explain the sources of historical continuity and how the combination of ideas and events explains the emergence of new patterns.

4.         Students recognize the role of chance, oversight, and error in history.

5.         Students recognize the interpretations of history are subject to change as new information is uncovered.

6.         Students interpret basic indicators or economic performance and conduct cost-benefit analyses of economic and political issues.

Course Description:  “The eighth-grade course of study begins with an intensive review of major ideas, issues, and events preceding the founding of the nation.”  (History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools)

Topics:

Our Colonial Heritage

A New Nation

8.1         Students understand the major events preceding the founding of the nation and relate their significance to the development of American constitutional democracy.

A.         Great Awakening

B.         Declaration of Independence

C.         American Revolution

D.         Civic republicanism, classical liberal principles, and English Parliamentary traditions

The Constitution of the United States

8.2         Students analyze the political principles underlying the U.S. Constitution and compare the enumerated and implied powers of the federal government.

A.         Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights, and the Mayflower Compact

B.         Articles of Confederation

C.         United States Constitution

D.         Federalist Papers

E.         George Washington, Roger Sherman, Gouverneur Morris, James Wilson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay

F.         First Amendment:  Separation of Church and State

G.         Enumerated powers

H.         Bill of Rights

I.         Federalism, dual sovereignty, separation of powers, checks and balances, and the nature and purpose of majority rule

8.3         Students understand the foundation of the American political system and the ways in which citizens participate in it.

A.         State constitutions (1777 – 1781)

B.         Ordinances of 1785 and 1787

C.         Common market, interstate commerce, common coinage, and full-faith and credit.

D.         Political Parties (Hamilton v. Jefferson)

E.         Shays’ Rebellion

F.         Whiskey Rebellion

G.         Law making process

H.         Citizen participation

I.         Free press

Launching the Ship of State

8.4         Students analyze the aspirations and ideals of the people of the new nation.

A.         Geography and physical expansion

B.         Famous speeches

C.         National Bank

D.         Daily Life:  art, music, and literature

8.5         Students analyze U.S. foreign policy in the early Republic.

A.         War of 1812

B.         Monroe Doctrine

C.         Mexican-American War

D.         Relations with Native Americans

The Divergent Paths of the American People:  1800 – 1850

8.6         Students analyze the divergent paths of the American people from 1800 to the mid-1800s and the challenges they faced, with emphasis on the Northeast

A.         Industrialism

B.         Henry Clay’s American System

C.         Immigration

D.         Lives of free Black Americans

E.         American education system:  Horace Mann

F.         Women’s suffrage movement:  Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Margaret Fuller, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony

G.         Transcendentalism and individualism:  Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

8.7         Students analyze the divergent paths of the American people in the South from 1800 to the mid-1800s and the challenges they faced.

A.         Development of an agrarian economy

B.         Cotton and the cotton gin

C.         Slavery

D.         Nat Turner and Denmark Vesey

E.         White Southern society

F.         Free blacks in the South

8.8         Students analyze the divergent paths of the American people in the West from 1800 to the mid-1800s and the challenges they faced.

A.         Andrew Jackson

B.         Manifest Destiny

C.         Lewis and Clark

D.         Cherokee’ “Trail of Tears”

E.         Pioneer women:  Laura Ingalls Wilder, Annie Bidwell

F.         Water rights

G.         Mexican settlements

H.         Texas War for Independence

I.         Mexican-American War

Toward a More Perfect Union:  1850 -1 879

8.9         Students analyze the early and steady attempts to abolish slavery and to realize the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.

A.         Leaders:  John Quincy Adams, John Brown, Harriet Tubman, Ben Franklin, Theodore Weld, William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass

B.         Abolition in state constitutions

C.         Northwest Ordinance

D.         States’ Rights Doctrine

E.         Missouri Compromise (1820)

F.         Wilmot Proviso (1846)

G.         Annexation of Texas and California; Compromise of 1850

H.         Kansas- Nebraska Act (1854)

I.         Dred Scott v. Sandford decision (1857)

J.         Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858)

8.10         Students analyze the multiple causes, key events, and complex consequences of the Civil War

A.         Conflicting interpretations of state and federal authority

B.         Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun

C.         Geographical and economic differences between the North and the South

D.         Doctrine of Nullification

E.         Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee

F.         Civil War

8.11         Students analyze the character and lasting consequences of Reconstruction.

A.         Aims and effects

B.         Freedmen’s Bureau

C.         “Jim Crow” laws

D.         Ku Klux Klan

E.         13^th, 14^th, and 15^th Amendments

The Rise of Industrial America:  1877 – 1914

8.12         Students analyze the transformation of the American economy and the changing social and political conditions in the United States in response to the Industrial Revolution.

A.         Agricultural and industrial development

B.         Federal Indian policy

C.         Business expansion

D.         Entrepreneurs, industrialists, and bankers:  Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Leland Stanford        

E.          Urbanization

F.         Immigration

G.         Child labor

H.         Labor movements

I.         Grangerism

J.         Populism

K.         Inventors and inventions:  Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Orville and Wilbur Wright

History and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

Chronological and Spatial Thinking

1.         Students explain how major events are related to one another in time.

2.         Students construct various time lines of key events, people, and periods of the historical era they are studying.

3.         Students use a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries and to explain the historical migration of people, expansion and disintegration of empires, and the growth of economic systems.

Research, Evidence, and Point of View

1.         Students frame questions that can be answered by historical study and research.

2.         Students distinguish fact from opinion in historical narratives and stories.

3.         Students distinguish relevant from irrelevant information, essential from incidental information, and verifiable from unverifiable information in historical narratives and stories.

4.         Students assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources and draw sound conclusions from them.

5.         Students detect the different historical points of view on historical events and determine the context in which the historical statements were made (the questions asked, sources used, author’s perspectives).

Historical Interpretation

1.         Students explain the central issues and problems from the past, placing people and events in a matrix of time and place.

2.         Students understand and distinguish cause, effect, sequence, and correlation in historical events, including the long- and short-term causal relations.

3.         Students explain the sources of historical continuity and how the combination of ideas and events explains the emergence of new patterns.

4.         Students recognize the role of chance, oversight, and error in history.

5.         Students recognize the interpretations of history are subject to change as new information is uncovered.

6.         Students interpret basic indicators or economic performance and conduct cost-benefit analyses of economic and political issues.